Partition

ABSTRACT

A demountable partition for dividing a large room into smaller units and including a ceiling channel and a floor channel arranged in parallel and in vertical alignment. Wall panels are adapted to engage in the channels and spring means in the ceiling channel applies a downward force on the panels and floor channel. A trim strip is housed in the ceiling channel to distribute the spring load more evenly on the panel and improve the appearance of the ceiling channel when the panels are removed.

United States Patent 11 1 Gasteiger 1 1March 13, 1973 [5 1 PARTITION2,707,536 5/1955 Wooten .52 409 3,513,606 5/1970 Jones ..52/241 X [76]Invent g o fif' g b a 3,538,658 11/1970 Lavalley et al. ..52/241 x 1 e a3 3,570,200 3/1971 Ritnern ..52/241 x [22] Filed: June 23, 1970 PrimaryExaminer-James R. Boler [21] Appl' 49l47 Assistant ExaminerGeo. V.Larkin Attorney-Rogers, Bereskin and Parr [52] U.S. Cl ..52/241, 52/401[51] Int. Cl. ..E04h 1/00, E04h 3/00, E04h 5/00 [57] ABSTRACT [58] Fieldof Search ..52/24l, 242, 402, 480, 290,

52/4O1, 122 A demountable partitlon for d1v1d1ng a large room intosmaller units and including a ceiling channel and a [56] ReferencesCited floor channel arranged in parallel and in vertical alignment. Wallpanels are adapted to engage in the chan- UNITED STATES PATENTS nels andspring means in the ceiling channel applies a 2,032,344 3/1936 Barrowset a1 ....s2/401 9 the and i A 2,443,548 6/1948 Wilson "52,122 trimstrip is housed in the ceiling channel to d strlbute 3,412,510 11/1968Harcuba.... 52/401 X the sprlng load more evenly on the panel andimprove 3,462,904 8/1969 Napier ..52/402 the appearance of the ceilingchannel when the panels 3,093,218 6/1963 Peterson ..52/241 are removed.3,292,321 12/1966 Vander Schans.... ....52/241 X 2,076,388 4/1937 Venzie..52/242 X 3 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTEUMAmms 6 83 82 16 n 88FIG. 8 100 102 OTTO FERDINAND GASTEIGER PARTITHON This invention relatesto a demountable partition of a type which can be used to divide a largeroom into smaller units.

When designing office space, classrooms, and the like it is convenientto have relatively large areas which can then be sub-divided into roomsusing demountable partitions. This has the advantage that as needschange, the partitions can be moved to different locations to rearrangethe layout of the rooms. The principle requirements of such partitionsare that they should be assembled and dis-assembled'easily and with aminimum use of tools. Also each part of the partitions should be of asize which is convenient for storage.

A number of demountable partitions are available. These fall into threemain types, a first of which includes fixed upper and lower channels inwhich panel members are mounted relatively loosely. This type tends tovibrate and the channels must be disconnected and moved to a new sitewhen the partition is to be relocated. A second type uses wedges forattaching the panels to the channels to prevent vibration and to morepositively locate the panels. Here again, the difficulty is that thechannels must be disconnected from floor and ceiling before they can bere-positioned. In the third type, the panels are mounted resiliently inthe channels so that the vibration problem is substantially eliminated.

According to a particular preferred embodiment of the present invention,a demountable partition is provided having an upper or ceiling channeland a lower or floor channel arranged in vertical alignment. Thechannels are spaced-apart sufficiently to receive wall panels which areadapted to be engaged in the channels and biased downwardly by springmeans housed inside the ceiling channel. The spring means is containedinside the channel by a trim strip which in turn bears against the topof the partition panels. The spring biasing means is adapted to providesufficient downward force on the panel to hold the floor channel infrictional engagement on a floor. When the partition is to berepositioned, panels are first removed from the channels and then thefloor channel is lifted off the floor leaving the ceiling channel inplace. The trim strip is forced downwardly over the mouth of the ceilingchannel to provide a more pleasing appearance and to disguise thepurpose of the ceiling channel. Numerous channels are built into theceiling of the area in which partitions could be used so that a modularroom structure can be built up using the demountable partitions.

The invention will be better understood with reference to the drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a demountable partition'beingconstructed in a room;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on lines 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on lines 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are sectional views of alternative floor channels;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of an alternative ceiling channel; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional side view of a further alternative ceilingchannel.

Reference is first made to FIG. 1 which shows an upright demountablepartition 10 in a room 12 and extending at right angles to a wall 14between the floor I6 and ceiling 18. The partition 10 includes an upperor ceiling channel 20 in vertical alignment with a lower or floorchannel 22 and panels 24, 24', 24" removably engaged in the channels 20,22. The ceiling channel 20 is attached to the ceiling 18 by glue, nails,screws or the like whereas the channel 22 is held in place on the floor16 by frictional forces.

As seen in FIG. 2, the ceiling channel 20 has spacedapart generallyparallel side walls 26, 28 extending downwardly from an upper web 30 andterminating at respective inwardly-turned lips 32, 34. The lips 32, 34define a slot 36 for receiving upper ends of the panels 24, (FIG. 1). Atrim strip 38 is located in the channel behind the lips 32, 34 andbiased towards the slot 36 by a plurality of spaced-apart coil springs40 to effectively close the slot 36 and improve the appearance of thechannel when the panels 24 are removed. The floor channel 22 isshallower than channel 20 but is similar in shape to channel 20. Channel22 has a web 42, upright side walls 44, 46 and inwardly turned lips 48,50 which define a slot 52 for receiving lower ends of panels 24. Thelips 48, 50 are provided to strengthen the channel and to present asimilar appearance to the upper channel 20. If preferred however thefloor channel 22 may be made without the lips 48, 50 in which case theside walls 44, 46 would define slot 52. Also any desired ornamentalshape can be used consistent with providing the slot 52. The reason forthe difference in depth between channels will be explained later in thedisclosure. The springs 40 are attached to the web 30 by gluing or byany other conventional means.

Where the ceiling channel 20 is to be screwed or nailed to the ceiling18 the trim strip is positioned behind lips 32, 34 after screwing thechannel to the ceiling. The strip is positioned by slipping alongitudinal edge between the spring and a lip and then rotating thestrip transversely against the springs to enter the other longitudinaledge behind the other lip. Upon releasing the strip, the springs forcethe strip into engagement with the lips. If required, glue can be usedto more positively locate the strip on the springs.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3 which shows the ceiling channel 20 andfloor channel 22 with a panel 24 in place in the channels. Springs 40are partially compressed and the trim strip 38 is displaced upwardly offthe lips 32, 34. The weight of the panel 24 together with the downwardforce exerted by springs 40 are sufficient to frictionally locate thelower channel 22 on the floor 16.

Adjacent panels 24, 24' are interengaged as shown in FIG. 4 to morepositively locate one panel in relation to the next panel and to limitpossible vibrational noises. The panels shown in FIG. 4 are typical ofany pair of adjacent panels.

Panel 24 has an upright end face 53 on which is formed or attached atongue 54. The other upright end face of panel 24 is similar to end face55 on panel 24 which defines a groove 56 for slidably receiving thetongue 54. The groove can be of any depth and may be deepened as shownto house electrical services having an outlet 57 connected by an opening58 to the groove 56. When not required the outlet is covered by adecorative plate. The other end face of panel 24 is similar to the endface 53 of panel 24. In general each panel has a tongue at one uprightend face and a matching groove in the other upright end face.

To assemble a partition, a floor channel 22 is laid on the floor 16 invertical alignment with a ceiling channel 20. Where many variations arerequired, the ceiling will be equipped with as many ceiling channels asmay be necessary. Next a panel 24 is lifted vertically to engage anupper end in ceiling channel 20. The ceiling channel has sufficientdepth to permit the user to push the panel 24 upwardly until the lowerend of panel 24 can be dropped into floor channel 22. The springs 40then bias the panel 24 downwardly to aid in holding channel 22 in placeon the floor. Further panels 24 are then added as required and pushedinto engagement with adjacent panel 24 to engage the tongue 54 intogroove 56 (FIG. 4). If preferred, each of the panels 24 can be enteredinto channels 20, 22 from one end and pushed along the channels into thedesired position. The partition can be disassembled by reversing theabove assembly procedure.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 which illustrate threealternatives for lower channel 22 (FIG. 1). As seen in FIG. 5, a channel59 is provided having extruded serrations 60 on its underside forgripping a carpet 61. The serrations are positioned to preventtransverse displacement of the channel 59 across the surface of thecarpet 61. A morepositively positioned floor channel is shown in FIG. 6.This second alternative includes a floor channel 62 which has aplurality of pins 64 spaced-apart along the channel 62 and extendingdownwardly from a web 66. Ferrules 68 are set in floor 70 andspaced-apart such that they receive the pins 64 when the channel is tobe located on the floor 70. In this arrangement, ceiling channels areplaced on the ceiling at intervals in positions where partitions may berequired and corresponding rows of ferrules 68 are positioned invertical alignment with the ceiling channels in the floor 16. When apartition is to be assembled the channel 62 is placed with the pins 64in corresponding ferrules 68 and then the panels 24 are inserted in thechannels 20, 22.

FIG. 7 shows a third alternative floor channel 72 having the usual lips74, 76 together with a pair of coplanar ribs 78, 80 for engaging theunderside of a panel 24 (FIG. 1). When the channel is positioned againstthe ribs 78, 80 there is a duct 82 formed below the panel 24 forcontaining electrical services and the like. The electrical connectionscan be made by bringing the conductors from the duct 82 upwardly betweenthe panels in the grooves 56 (FIG. 4). The underside of the channel 72has a friction pad 83 of rubber or any other suitable material forincreasing the frictional grip between the channel 72 and the floor.This pad can be used whenever required and with other embodiments of thefloor channel.

A further embodiment of the upper channel is shown in FIG. 8. A ceilingchannel 84 is adapted to form an integral part of a suspended ceiling 86which is attached by a suspension member 88 to a roof 90. Screws 92 passthrough a web 94 in a ceiling channel member 84 and into member 88 toattach the channel 84. The channel is similar to channel 20 (FIG. 2) butfor outwardly extending flanges 96, 98 which support respective acousticceiling panels 100, 102 of the suspended ceiling 86. Channels 84 arearranged to form rectangular spaces in which the ceiling panels 100, 102are positioned. The resulting suspended ceiling 86 presents a pleasingappearance and can be used to receive panels such as panels 24, (FIG. 1)for forming rooms as required.

Reference is now made to FIG. 9 which shows an alternative for springs40 (FIG. 2). In this figure a web 104 has -a leaf spring 106 attached bya rivet 108. A trim strip 110 is biassed downwardly by the spring 106.This type of spring is suitable in some situations but coil springs arepreferable because their change in length takes place transversely ofthe channel whereas the leaf spring would become axially longer aspanels are inserted in the ceiling channel. Consequently the leaf springmust be axially shorter than the extent of the ceiling channel if theends of the spring are not to project beyond the ends of the channelwhen the panels are in place in the ceiling channel.

Because of the tongue and groove arrangement between adjacent panels,the panels must be moved along the channels before they can be removed.If it is desired to prevent disassembly a locking device can be insertedinto one or both of the ceiling and floor channels to prevent slidingmovement of the panels. The locking device can take any convenient formand be operated by a key.

Each of the channels and trim strips described is preferably of sheetmetal formed into the required shape or of extruded aluminum. However asuitable plastic can also be used. Each of the panels 24 is of plywoodfaced with plastic or painted but any other suitable material can beused.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. A demountable partition comprising: an upwardlyopening floor channelon a floor; a downwardly-opening ceiling channel affixed to the ceilingparallel to and above said floor channel, the depth of the ceilingchannel being substantially greater than the depth of the floor channeland the ceiling channel having a pair of inwardly extending lipsdefining a slot; a trim strip engaged in the ceiling channel and havinga width greater than the width of the slot; and spring means housed inthe ceiling channel above the trim strip for biasing the trim stip intoengagement with upper surfaces of the lips; and panels having athickness slightly less than the width of the slot for slidingengagement in the ceiling channel between the lips, each of the panelshaving respective upper and lower ends engaged in the ceiling and floorchannels, the upper ends of the panels being engaged against theunderside of the trim strip whereby the trim strip is displaced upwardlyof the lips and the spring means is compressed to provide a downwardforce on the floor channel, each of the panels being removable bydisplacing the panel upwardly to further compress the spring means andthereby release the lower end of the panel from the floor channelwhereupon the panel is removed from the ceiling channel by first movingthe lower end of the panel away from the floor channel and then loweringthe panels so that the upper end of the panel is removed from theceiling channel.

2. A demountable partition as claimed in claim 1 in which the springmeans comprises a plurality of coil springs in spaced-apart relationwith their axes vertical.

3. A demountable partition as claimed in claim 1 in which the ceilingchannel comprises a horizontally extending web, spaced-apart uprightside walls dependent from respective longitudinal edges of the web, thelips being coplanar and extending inwardly from respective 5 lower endsof the side walls.

1. A demountable partition comprising: an upwardly-opening floor channelon a floor; a downwardly-opening ceiling channel affixed to the ceilingparallel to and above said floor channel, the depth of the ceilingchannel being substantially greater than the depth of the floor channeland the ceiling channel having a pair of inwardly extending lipsdefining a slot; a trim strip engaged in the ceiling channel and havinga width greater than the width of the slot; and spring means housed inthe ceiling channel above the trim strip for biasing the trim stip intoengagement with upper surfaces of the lips; and panels having athickness slightly less than the width of the slot for slidingengagement in the ceiling channel between the lips, each of the panelshaving respective upper and lower ends engaged in the ceiling and floorchannels, the upper ends of the panels being engaged against theunderside of the trim strip whereby the trim strip is displaced upwardlyof the lips and the spring means is compressed to provide a downwardforce on the floor channel, each of the panels being removable bydisplacing the panel upwardly to further compress the spring means andthereby release the lower end of the panel from the floor channelwhereupon the panel is removed from the ceiling channel by first movingthe lower end of the panel away from the floor channel and then loweringthe panels so that the upper end of the panel is removed from theceiling channel.
 1. A demountable partition comprising: anupwardly-opening floor channel on a floor; a downwardly-opening ceilingchannel affixed to the ceiling parallel to and above said floor channel,the depth of the ceiling channel being substantially greater than thedepth of the floor channel and the ceiling channel having a pair ofinwardly extending lips defining a slot; a trim strip engaged in theceiling channel and having a width greater than the width of the slot;and spring means housed in the ceiling channel above the trim strip forbiasing the trim stip into engagement with upper surfaces of the lips;and panels having a thickness slightly less than the width of the slotfor sliding engagement in the ceiling channel between the lips, each ofthe panels having respective upper and lower ends engaged in the ceilingand floor channels, the upper ends of the panels being engaged againstthe underside of the trim strip whereby the trim strip is displacedupwardly of the lips and the spring means is compressed to provide adownward force on the floor channel, each of the panels being removableby displacing the panel upwardly to further compress the spring meansand thereby release the lower end of the panel from the floor channelwhereupon the panel is removed from the ceiling channel by first movingthe lower end of the panel away from the floor channel and then loweringthe panels so that the upper end of the panel is removed from theceiling channel.
 2. A demountable partition as claimed in claim 1 inwhich the spring means comprises a plurality of coil springs inspaced-apart relation with their axes vertical.